Overview of Forecasting Love and Weather

‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ is a 2022 South Korean television programme starring Park Min-young, Son-kang, Yoon-park, and Yura as its main cast members. It is directed by Cha Young-hoon. The Korea Meteorological Administration employees who break, fall, and rise again are the subject of this series, which also shows their daily interactions at work.

It debuted on JTBC on 12 February 2022 and ran for 16 episodes. From 21 February to 3 April six weeks in a row, ‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ appeared in the Global Top 10 weekly list of the most popular worldwide Netflix TV programmes.

Profile

• Drama: Forecasting Love and Weather (English title) / Meteorological Administration People: Office Romance Cruelty (literal title)
• Director: Cha Young-hoon
• Writer: Sun Young
• Network: JTBC
• Episodes: 16
• Release Date: 12 February – 3 April 2022
• Language: Korean
• Country: South Korea

Cast

• Park Min-young as Jin Ha-kyung
• Park Seo-kyung as young Jin Ha-kyung
• Song Kang as Lee Si-woo
• Yoon Park as Han Ki-joon
• Yura as Chae Yu-jin

Synopsis

‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ tells the story of a covert office romance between Jin Ha-kyung and Lee Shi-woo, who both work for the national weather service while juggling their personal and professional lives. However, the romance does not last very long.

At the top of Jin Ha-kyung’s game as Director of Team 2 general forecasting unit at Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), she has her life going well. While preparing for her wedding with her long-time boyfriend, Han Ki-jun, she discovers his unfaithfulness, resulting in their wedding getting cancelled. When she discovers that her fiance Han Ki-jun is unfaithful, Jin Ha-kyung’s life is turned upside down.

Shi-woo’s world is broken when his girlfriend Chae Yoo-jin breaks up with him after months of one-sided dates. Later, Ki-jun weds Chae Yu-jin, who had previously shared a home with Lee Shi-woo, a new member of Ha-kyung’s team of weather forecasters. They eventually become close, which results in a relationship they decide not to publicly acknowledge. That is due to the fact that their ex-lovers are all together and work in the same place of business.

No matter how intense their feelings are for one another, their marriage values are in conflict. Personal issues that inevitably caused them to split up also contributed to this. It’s interesting that their relationship status became well-known at work. As a result, they decide to hide their split. They opt to ignore their relationship problems and assume that they are destined to be together.

‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ is consistently captivating with its portrayal of the individuals moving in its set office environment, likely attaining the most balanced presentation of romance and business in a series. Consequently, romantic tales successfully integrate into the story’s plot. In this kind of literature, the focus frequently shifts from work to romance. More importantly, the show has left uplifting messages about various aspects of life that would inspire the younger generation.

‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ Ending Explained: An Unpredictable K-drama

As pregnant Yu-jin yearns for a grapefruit beverage, we also get to see Ki-jun and reporter Yu–jin sharing a very adorable moment. When Director Jin gets home, she discovers her mother shivering in the cold as she sits at the front door. When Jin reveals that the passcode for her apartment is the date the two first met, 14th March she stumbles as she proceeds to explain to her mother why she and Shi-Woo chose to break up.

Jin doesn’t realise that her mother spoke with Shi-woo about a similar topic, which made her hope the two will reconcile. The next scene is a brief montage of Jin and Shi-woo’s relationship throughout the previous year, starting with their initial encounter and ending with their first kiss. When Jin gets to the Seoul Observatory to see the “first snow” of the season, Shi-woo is already there and the montage comes to an end.

As they discuss their romance, the two star-crossed lovers are unable to contain their smiles.

The focus then shifts to the unfortunate forecaster Shin, who is seen drinking many sake bottles to drown his sorrows. He apologised to Tae-kyung over the phone and then sobbed as he said that she was his first love.

The entire team bid farewell, on a positive note, to forecaster Chae, who is pregnant. Putting her boss in his place, forecaster Shin Seok-ho prepares breakfast for the family, forecaster Oh shows her support for her husband’s academic endeavours, and forecaster Kim gives a seminar to the fresh recruits.

Now that Shi-woo is living with his father, the two appear to have improved their relationship. On the other hand, Director Jin appears to be proud of how hard her crew is working on the KMA centre floor. Shi-woo and Yu-jin leave their parents, who were sitting together and getting to know one another for the first time, at the end of the series.

‘Forecasting Love and Weather’: A Heartwarming Poetic Romance in the Making

The audience might question how one person could be this interested in air-flow patterns and sea fogs after witnessing Lee Shi-woo’s love for the weather. While this is happening, annoyance is raised about whether upcoming bride Jin Ha-kyung (Park Min-young) will ever be able to remove the stick that is buried deep inside her.

Then, unanticipated rain, both real and metaphorical, sweeps away the petrichor of what, at least based on the first two episodes, is building up to be a wonderfully energising, passionate, and magnificent drama.

The realisation that the show’s director Cha Young-hoon and writer Kang Eun-kyung may have hit with their exquisite linkages between weather and love comes from these two developments, which were built up gradually, tastefully, and contextually throughout the episode. Consider the second episode, ‘Sensible Temperature’, which is properly named and refers to the “Feels like” area of our weather app in addition to the actual air temperature. In the month of May, as the nation struggles with an unexpected cold wave, Ha-kyung’s life “feels” similarly frigid.

The presence of a senior employee assigned to her team indirectly challenges her authority as the director. Ha-kyung continues to be unaffected until she loses her cool and lashes out at Ki-jun for his adultery and cunning behaviour in the middle of work. There is a warm up period and a shared drink with Shi-woo.

Call it a narrative device, but there is something poetic in observing how weather changes are just as cosmic in some areas of daily life. The drama employs the weather not only as an inspiration but also as a character who seems to live, breathe, change, and warn the other characters, which makes it even more brilliant. Even better, ‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ accomplishes this without ever being preachy or overly serious, for which the credit goes to the excellent cast and makers.

Compared to her past performances, Ha-kyung’s prickly, prim, and sometimes lonely persona looks more nuanced. Perhaps, it’s because Park Min-young strives to challenge herself once more after beginning the drama at a point that her previous characters would have deemed the finish line—getting married. Lee Shi-woo, played by Song-kang, provides an attractive contrast for Ha-kyung. His youth and innocence make us simultaneously admire and even pity him.

Even though Song has played a number of different characters on Netflix over the years, he consistently manages to stand out in each one, whether it is as the gritty Cha Hyun-soo in Sweet Home, the serial flirt in ‘Nevertheless’, or the impassioned Lee Chae-rok in ‘Navillera’. Shi-woo appears to be far less serious than in his prior endeavours, but Song’s subtle cues and reflective periods reveal a depth that is immediately compelling.

Yoon-park and Yura’s story is more complex than a one-dimensional wicked arc. It will be intriguing to observe how the opposing forces of Ha-kyung and Shi-woo, “two air currents that shouldn’t have met,” as she puts it – fuse together as more of the story still has to be revealed, as it is difficult to guess that how both people and weather require time for us to get to know them better. It’s not always unpleasant outside. Along with windy and rainy days, there are also sunny days. There is always a rationale behind things.

Interesting Facts about ‘Forecasting Love and Weather’

1. Song Kang cut his hair short for his role in the series.
2. Song Kang underwent a minor image change for his role in ‘Forecasting Love and Weather’.
3. Song Kang revealed that he fell in love with his character Lee Shi-woo.
4. Yoon Bak suffered hair loss trying to understand his role.
5. Yura auditioned twice for her role as Chae Yu-jin in the drama.

FAQs

1. What kind of K-drama is ‘Forecasting Love and Weather’?
   ‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ is a romantic comedy.
2. How many episodes are there in ‘Forecasting Love and Weather’?
   There are 16 episodes.
3. On which platform was ‘Forecasting Love and Weather’ released?
   It was released on JTBC.
4. What is the Instagram ID of Park Min-young?
   
   @rachel_mypark.